


and yet you always stayed

by semi_automatic



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cute, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Moving In Together, Short & Sweet, Sweet, Young Love, and cute and lovey, anyway enjoy, babies.., i'm 4 days late its fine, its just soft, merry christmas y'all, this is a gift for my boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 03:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17216123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semi_automatic/pseuds/semi_automatic
Summary: An exchange of Christmas gifts and a lot of kissing.





	and yet you always stayed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twenty_one_plants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twenty_one_plants/gifts).



Tyler had done everything he could to get out of his family’s Christmas festivities as fast as he could, thanking everyone for presents and stashing them in his room, sitting and drinking eggnog and watching the seconds on the clock tick by as he prays for a break where he can slip out. When he finally gets it, it’s almost 9’oclock, and he sends a message to Josh,  _ ‘shit, i’m so sorry its so late. i’ll be there in just a few.’ _

Columbus snow catches in his eyelashes as he walks to the bus stop, tense and nervous, listening to the pure quiet of the city around him. When he gets on the bus, the last one of the night, he feels bad for the bus driver. Tyler is the only one on the bus. The ride is only about ten minutes, and he goes through the bag a few more times to make sure all of the presents are in there. 

Breathless, after getting off he runs the couple of blocks to Josh’s apartment, even though it makes him almost immediately have an asthma attack from the cold. Taking the elevator, he’s wheezing, closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath. He hasn’t quite gotten it by the time he’s knocking on Josh’s door. When it opens, he immediately begins apologizing. “I’m s-sorry it’s late, I… I c-couldn’t get out fast enough a-and I ran h-here--”

Josh pulls him inside immediately, putting a finger to his lips to quiet him, cupping his cheek. “Shh, stop apologizing baby. You’re here now. And you’re cold. And you can’t breathe.” He frowns. “Just calm down. Here, hold on.” He hurries off to the bathroom, leaving Tyler still wheezing before Josh comes back with Tyler’s inhaler. He insists on doing it for him, instructing him on when to breathe, when to hold it in, when to exhale. Two puffs and then slow breathing. Tyler’s lungs open up again. He sighs.

“I did try to get here as fast as possible. I missed you.” He looks around at all the lights strung up, the ones he had helped with when he spent the night on his birthday. It’s really only about three strands - Josh’s apartment wasn’t big at all. The tree stood next to his television, with a white sheet wrapped around the bottom as a last minute tree skirt, and only a few basic decorations, all plastic so nothing could shatter if it fell. Tinsel hanging from it, too. Tyler smiles, then stands on his tiptoes to kiss Josh, one hand behind his head and tangling into his curls for a moment. “I really missed you,” he smiles.

“I missed you too. Do you want hot chocolate? I got your favorite, the kind with the colored marshmallows.” Josh moves into the kitchen area, separated from the living room by one wall and a set of shelves with little on them. Tyler starts to take off his shoes.

“Yes please,” he says, leaving them at the door and taking his jacket off, laying it over the back of the recliner that Josh had bought after Tyler accidentally fell asleep in it at the thrift store. He looks in his bag, counts his gifts again. They’re all there. 

Josh comes back in a few minutes later after Tyler hears the microwave ding and the bags being ripped open, spoons clanking against the ceramic mugs. Tyler has curled up on the couch already, wrapped himself in the soft white blanket laying there and placed his gifts on the coffee table. Three gifts, all wrapped in silver, glittery wrapping paper, leaving its traces all over Tyler’s fingers and clothing. But he didn’t care. Josh smiles and hands him his mug, the little blue one with tiny stars painted on the inside, which Tyler had picked out at the thrift store shortly before falling asleep on the before mentioned recliner. 

“So where are my presents?” Tyler teases, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and downing all of the sticky marshmallows. Josh rolls his eyes before going over to the tree, crouching down and pulling out a box and something that looks soft. Both are wrapped in simple blue wrapping paper with small snowflakes on them. He places them on the table beside Tylers. “You go first,” Tyler says, pushing one of his gifts towards Josh. It’s long, and Josh feels at it for a second before looking at Tyler.

“Are these..?”

“I dunno, open it,” he grins. Josh pulls the paper off, getting glitter all over his couch, and looks at them.

“Oh, man, these are sweet drumsticks. Thank you. But I can’t--” He starts to gesture to his drum set, unused in the corner before Tyler cuts him off.

“You aren’t done opening them yet!” The second package is shoved into his hands, and Josh opens this one with even greater curiosity. Then there’s a small gasp and a grin.

“Silencers?” He opens the box they came in to inspect all of them, feeling them and looking at them. “Now I can play without getting noise complaints,” he giggles, tongue sticking out slightly between his teeth.

“You’ve got one more,” Tyler says, picking up the smallest gift, a small box. “This is the one I’m most excited about.” He scoots closer to Josh and sets it in his hand. “Open it.” Almost in Josh’s lap.

Josh pulls the wrapping paper more slowly off of this one, revealing a small cardboard box, which he opens with caution. He freezes up, hands starting to shake. “Tyler, I… Is this…?”

“It’s not what you think,” Tyler says quickly, cheeks flushing. He looks down. “I don’t think either of us is ready for that yet, no. It’s a spinner ring, see?” He holds up his own hand, showing a matching silver band on his thumb, decorated with planets and stars. “For when you get anxious. I got a matching one. It’s not-- no, not yet.” Nervous, embarrassed laughter. 

Josh sighs, tension leaving him. “I think I just went through every emotion at once, Tyler. You can’t scare me like that, but thank you. I’ll wear it always baby.” Pulling it out of the box he slides it on, spinning it a few times before he grabs Tyler’s hand and kisses his knuckles. “I love it. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tyler giggles. “Can I open mine now? I’m so glad you like yours.”

Josh nods and places the box in Tyler’s hands. It’s big but light, and Tyler is a bit

nervous to shake it just in case. He’s more careful with wrapping paper than Josh, undoing it at the places where there’s tape and trying not to rip it much. “Headphones!” He pulls off the wrapping paper more quickly when he sees what it is, reading up on them for a second on the box before setting them down. “I needed new ones. Thank you so much.”

“I remembered you liked over the ear ones. And they have a noise canceling function, too. They’re really good.” Josh smiles, loving seeing Tyler so happy with a present. “Here’s your other one.” He hands him the softer gift. After another few seconds of unwrapping, Tyler reveals a big hoodie, soft and baby blue, patterned with clouds on it. 

“It’s perfect,” he says, moving on the couch to pull off his shirt and tug on the hoodie. “You’re going to have to wear this so it smells like you, so I can sleep with it at night,” he giggles.

Josh has started to stand up from the couch, walking away for a second. “You won’t have to worry about that,” he says, crouching by the tree to pull out one more gift. “Close your eyes, okay? I couldn’t wrap this one.”

“Okay,” Tyler says, skeptical. Still, he closes his eyes and holds his hands out, cupped. Something cold and heavy drops into his hands and he opens his eyes to look. “A key?”

Josh is rocking back and forth on his heels in front of Tyler, grinning, his hands behind his back. “Yes. For the apartment.”

“Why?” Tyler blinks, not understanding. Josh cups Tyler’s face in his hands.

“I’m asking you to move in with me, silly,” Josh says, incredibly close to Tyler, nearly touching noses. “I’m asking you to stay.”  
  
“Josh!” The tears overflow quickly, and Tyler nearly lunges at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him tightly, and Josh reaches under and lifts him so Tyler has his legs wrapped around Josh’s waist, completely hugging him as tight as he can. He kisses him, first on the neck, then his jaw, then his cheek, then his mouth, and then everywhere he can get to, every inch of skin. Josh laughs, holding him close. “You mean it? You want me to live with you?”

“Of course I do,” Josh says, kissing him back on the cheek. “I want you here always. All the time. I’ll help you move your stuff over. I already talked to your mom about it. She thinks it’s a great idea.”

Tyler nods, still crying and sniffling a good bit, burying his face into Josh’s shoulder. Josh strokes his hair and back for a bit, sitting back on the couch with Tyler in his lap. 

“You know, I would have said yes,” Josh says.

“What?”

“To the ring.”

Tyler can’t help but smile wide. “Next year, maybe. I love you.”


End file.
